Ronquières inclined plane


The Ronquières Inclined Plane is a Belgian canal inclined plane on the Brussels-Charleroi Canal in the province of Hainaut in Wallonia that opened in April 1968 after six years of construction. It is in the municipality of Braine-le-Comte and takes its name from the nearby village of Ronquières.
The purpose of the construction was to reduce the delays imposed by the 14 locks, which had hitherto been needed for the canal to follow the local topography.

Description

The Ronquières Inclined Plane has a length of and lifts boats through vertically. It consists of two large caissons mounted on rails. Each caisson measures long by wide and has a water depth between. It can carry one boat of 1,350 tonnes or many smaller boats within the same limits.
Each caisson has a 5,200-tonne counterweight running in the trough below the rails, which permits the caisson to be moved independently of the other. Each caisson is pulled by 8 cables wound by winches located at the top end of the inclined plane. Each cable is long.
Each caisson can be moved between the two canal levels at a speed of, taking about 22 minutes.
It takes 50 minutes in total to pass through the of the entire structure, including the raised canal bridge at the top end.

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